Folks in Japan recently received the much awaited dual touch update to their X10 handsets. However being only available in Japan has meant the guys over at XDA-Developers have been hard at work to bring the update to non Japanese X10 handsets. Thankfully they’ve succeeded. Those who wish to enable dual touch on their X10 handset will need to flash the update to their phone, using the X10 Flash Tool. To get the full use out of the update though, it is required that the handset is flashed. Without doing so, the dual touch update only works in third party apps, where as if rooted and some adjustments are made using Root File Explorer, dual touch is then enabled within first party apps, such as the browser. Unfortunately no matter what is edited, one first party app that does not support dual touch, is Mediascape, although give the guys at XDA enough time and this may also be possible.

You can download the dual touch update from here. The update can be flashed with the X10 flasher, which can be downloaded here, this app also lets you root the handset. There is also a guide on what to do once rooted to get the full functionality of the dual touch update here.

We reported the other day that Sony Ericsson were due to release the much awaited dual touch update for the Xperia X10. There have been no delays and those in Japan can now update their X10 handsets and enjoy pinch to zoom within many apps.

The update can be applied through PC Companion or over the air. As of yet there isn’t any information regarding the update availability in other regions unfortunately. No doubt folks in the US will have to have Android 2.1 approved first before they see this dual touch update for the handset.

Users are reporting that the dual touch is fast and smooth. Also there haven’t been any third apps that have been found to not work. The only app that isn’t working with dual touch, is Sony Ericsson’s own Mediascape which, I’m sure many will find ironic.

Sony Ericsson promised that an update bringing support for pinch and zoom would be released sometime this quarter and now Sony Ericsson Japan have announced that the update will become available from tomorrow. The update will be available through PC Companion for X10 owners in Japan. While if you want to do the update over the air, or don’t have a PC, you will be able to do so from January 20th. Unfortunately no information regarding the release in other regions has been given. With the update about to begin rolling out though, it shouldn’t be too long before other regions receive the update.

Along with announcing that the update is coming tomorrow, Sony Ericsson have also confirmed that the dual touch will work in the browser, Office Suite, Moxier and Google Maps, while third party app support may be limited. Sony Ericsson weren’t able to confirm that dual touch would be supported within all third party apps.

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One of the downfalls to the Xperia X10 when it launched, apart from not having multi touch, is that the handset also came with an outdated OS upon release. When announced, Android 1.6 was fine but, by the time Sony Ericsson released the handset, Android 2.1 was out, with Android 2.2 coming soon. Or if you were in America, Android 2.2 was already out, while the X10 still shipped with Android 1.6. The OS has since been updated to Android 2.1 although many were hoping Sony Ericsson would skip 2.1 and head straight to Android 2.2, or at the very least update soon after to 2.2. Android 2.3 is out now though and there’s still no sign of Android 2.2 on the X10.

Sony Ericsson have confirmed that the Android 2.2 will not be making it’s way to their Xperia X10 range of devices, this includes the full size X10, as well as the X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro. The Xperia X8 will also remain on Android 2.1 and not see a further upgrade. While the handsets won’t receive any further Android updates, Sony Ericsson have said they will continue to release minor firmware upgrades to the handset, such as the multi touch upgrade which is on it’s way.

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For those who haven’t picked up the Xperia X10 in America, here’s an offer to make the X10 even tempting. If you pick up the Xperia X10 up and sign up to a two year contract with AT&T, you’ll receive a second Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 handset for free. This offer is only open for a limited time and will end at the new year, January 1st to be exact.

The only downside with the offer is that, while Sony Ericsson have released the Android 2.1 update for the Xperia X10, AT&T are yet to approve the update. Meaning for now, you’ll be stuck with a handset running Android 1.6, while most other owners of Android handsets will have 2.0 and above.

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Some good news for those who thought that their beloved Xperia X10 may be stuck on Android 2.1 forever. Before Sony Ericsson released Android 2.1 for the Xperia X10 range of handsets, when asked about the future of the X10, more specifically with regards to Android 2.2, the Android version favoured by many other Android handsets on the market, Sony Ericsson replied with an “on the fence” answer, where they never denied the X10 would or wouldn’t get Android 2.1 but, never confirmed it either and that more information would be available after Android 2.1 was released on to their X10 handset.

Well, the update has been out for a while now, although admittedly not to every region, it’s been out for a while none the less. One X10 owner has contacted Sony Ericsson via the Turkish support site and received an answer which was straight to the point. According to the Sony Ericsson rep, the Android 2.2 update for the Xperia X10 should be out sometime during Q2 of 2011, which takes us up until June. They also added that work for Android 2.2 is also ongoing.

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It’s been said many times, even by Sony Ericsson themselves, that the Xperia X10 will not support multi touch, due to hardware limitations. This has however been questioned many times as well. The handset was previously dubbed as supporting multitouch, right up until the launch and even five months after the initial release of the Xperia X10, Sony Style US listed the Xperia X10 as having a multitouch display. This was however later revoked and it was put down to a typo and for users not to get their hopes up.

Over the past few weeks however, videos have surfaced which, once again questioned the capabilities of multi touch on the Xperia X10. The videos looked rather convincing despite what had been previously claimed. In response to this, the Sony Ericsson blog have said that the Xperia X10 will support multi touch, of sorts. The company are working on releasing an update that will enable pinch to zoom on the X10 which will work in the browser, possibly within MediaScape and within certain third party apps, such as Angry Birds. Not all apps and games will support multi touch though, at least that’s what Sony Ericsson are saying for the mean time. We may find in the future any app that supports multi touch, will also work with multi touch on the X10, whether or not that will be directly through Sony Ericsson or modders however, will remain to be seen until the update is actually released.

Rikard Skogberg has also posted a video of the “prototype software” on his X10, showing off the multi touch, which you can view after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Since Sony Ericsson released the much needed Android 2.1 update for their Xperia X10, many users have been asking, “when will my AT&T branded X10 get the update?”. Until now, Sony Ericsson haven’t really said much, other than that they can’t confirm specific releases. While they still haven’t provided us with a date, they have provided further information regarding the update and why it’s not been released for the US already.

Firstly, as the Xperia X10 was released in the US 5 months after it was released in many other countries, the Android 2.1 update will also roll out in much the same way, with the initial launch countries having received the Android 2.1 update for their X10 handset, while the US, who had to wait longer for the handset, are still waiting for the Android update. However, even when Sony Ericsson release the US Android update, it still needs to pass through rigorous testing in the US and also AT&T’s own testing, which we’ve seen with other networks throughout the world. Unfortunately, the testing process in the US however, can take months to finish, so we may not see the update Stateside any time soon. You can check out Sony Ericsson’s USA Facebook page here for full details on the ‘delay’ of Android 2.1 for the X10 in the US.

While the bootloader of the Xperia X10 hasn’t been cracked yet, developments are running high. The latest achievement on the Xperia X10 is the ability to load a custom ROM on the Xperia X10. It isn’t completed yet and by no means ready to be released to the public, however one member over at the XDA Developers forum, has managed to load a custom Android 2.2 ROM onto his Xperia X10. At the moment, it appears the radio signal doesn’t work, so the X10 doesn’t function as a phone, making the ROM unsuitable for every day use. Nor has the kernal been changed.

Until the bootloader is cracked on the Xperia X10, the ability to install Android 2.2 won’t be made available to the public, however as you can see in the video after the jump, this is a huge advancement in where the modding community is getting with the phone. Bootloader access also appears closer than ever. Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve heard before, many times in fact, that the Xperia X10 does not support multi touch and is due to the hardware. However we’ve also seen instances where Sony Ericsson have said that the handset does, including the latest incident involving the Sony Style website. Before the US release of the Xperia X10, the US Sony Style site laid claim that the Xperia X10 featured a 4 inch multi touch screen. This was however later retracted.

Because of this, the issue of multi touch on the Xperia X10 still hasn’t been put to rest and now there are several videos that have emerged, which one again question the ability of multi touch on the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10. In the videos, we see King of Fighters being played on the Xperia X10 and using multi touch, while another video shows of Angry Birds on the handset and the pinch to zoom ability within the game. You can see all the videos demonstrating multi touch on the Xperia X10 after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »